The federal government at the weekend ordered ban on procurement and distribution of conference bags, T-shirts and other souvenirs at events of the Federal Ministries, and Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
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In a statement the Federal Ministry of Finance released, which its Director Information, Salsiu Na’Inna Dambatta signed, the FG said the new measure is to avoid waste of money and channel financial resources to productive sector.
The statement reads in part: “the directive is a recognition of the fact that in a period of lean financial resources in the face of huge national infrastructural deficit, wasteful and unnecessary expenditure on overheads such as on souvenirs and conference bags were luxuries that the government must eliminate to release funds for infrastructure and services such as health and education that would have direct positive impact on the wellbeing of the citizenry and promote economic development.”
It said the directive is part of the government’s austerity drive to cut down on unnecessary expenditure and make the most of available resources.
The statement said further, “unnecessary publications and books of short shelf life which have no real value to the concerned public institutions or the citizens is banned. The need for the citizenry and other interested parties to be aware of the initiatives, activities and programmes being implemented by the government, the MDAs were directed to save costs by uploading such publications on their websites which have the added benefit of wider visibility, and print only limited number of hard copies of such publications.”
